Leaving, chapter 1: Chance encounters
by Kuraiko Kurohoshi
Summary: Akane's mourning encounters an unexpected sight... and who's that with Ranma? (Ranma/Slayers)


Disclaimer : 

Ranma 1/2 is not mine. Slayers is not mine. 

Note : This is a Ranma/Slayers fusion, in the sense that the Slayers characters and magic system were incorporated in the Ranmaverse, and changed to better fit Modern Japan, with a different dynamic between the characters. C&C is greatly appreciated and can be sent to ranma_666@hotmail.com or ICQ# 45118495. Thank you. 

******* 

What happened before : 

Prologue : Ranma jumps off a cliff in front of everyone, and is thought dead. Akane finds out about Ryoga's curse. 

******* 

" " spoken ' ' thought * * emphasis 

******* 

Leaving 

Chapter 1 : Chance encounters 

******* 

One week to the day, to the hour, and as she looked at the sun, she'd say to the minute, Akane was back in the forest, at the elbow in the river, the waterfall facing her two hundred feet away. She was looking up, at the cliff, at a certain rough spot, where Ranma had destroyed the small point there to fall to his death, using a technique no one had taught him, with uncanny accuracy. 

Her eyes were dry, though not willingly. She would cry if she could, but she had no more tears to shed. Instead, she looked at the waterfall, the bane of Ranma Saotome, in more ways than one, wishing its impassiveness would come to her and remove the pain that was in her heart. 

***Flashback*** 

Akane and Ranma were silently walking to school, the latter on the street for once. It had been a normal morning, with the usual argument about Akane and food at breakfast. They were purposefully avoiding to look at each other, which caused Ranma to fail to notice the approaching girl. His right arm was suddenly intertwined with two others, a very female person leaning on him. 

"Ranchan! I heard Akane tried to poison you this morning, so I brought you some okonomiyaki!" From her tangled left arm, she lifted a delivery box just high enough for Ranma's nose to detect. His eyes, however, were darting between the two girls he was with. "Em... Ucchan... That's very nice of you, but..." 

Any attempt to say something, to stop Akane from getting more angry or not, was cut short as he was suddenly flattened on the ground by a bicycle. "Ayah! Husband okay? Shampoo bring food! Shampoo hear kitchen destroyer try to cook again." She got off her bike and glomped Ranma, who was now up but not quite on his feet. Ukyo took hold of his other side. 

The two food-bringing fiancees started bickering about from which Ranma would eat, trying to put their food over the other's, while Ranma looked helplessly at Akane, a pleading look in his eyes, but Akane only started to glow blue in response. "It's not my fault. I didn't ask for this." he said meekly a split second before a large mallet sent him in the air with a loud cry of "Ranma you jerk!", the food following him, though not as high. 

The two other fiancees glared at her, but since she was still glowing and had her mallet they decided to go after Ranma instead. Akane turned her back to their retreating forms with a loud "Hmph!", her nose high and eyes closed as she walked away. As far as she was concerned, those three deserved each other. 

***End Flashback*** 

Akane sniffed as she remembered that moment, and hundreds similar, where she just hadn't listened to Ranma. Her attitude had made his life only that more complicated, and much more difficult to bear. She couldn't help feel a little guilty for Ranma's ultimate decision. 'It's not my fault!' His voice, pleading and asking for forgiveness, echoed in her head. "Ranma..." 

She looked up at the cliff, at the spot from where Ranma had jumped, and saw a shadow. She couldn't quite be sure with the low light, but it seemed it was a person practicing simple katas. The shadow's form and the katas seemed eerily familiar. 'It's not Ranma... My mind is playing tricks on me...' 

"Ranma!" Akane snapped out of her apparent reverie and looked towards the sound. On the waterfall's left, at the forest's edge, was a small woman, dressed in pink pants and pink T-shirt, the latter barely going down her hips to end in a dress-like manner, small white bands at the bottom and sleeve ends with a yellow band over her breasts. She had long flowing red hair, beginning to curl at the ends, going down to her large black belt. She was waving, apparently to the man up the cliff. 

"I'm coming down, Lina!" the man above shouted back, waving as well. Akane closed her eyes shut for a second, telling herself it was a coincidence and she had heard his voice only because she wanted to. There was no man up there, and certainly not one named Ranma who had a certain voice that was echoing in her head. She continued looking just in time to see the man jump off the cliff. 

Her hand went over her opened mouth to prevent the scream from coming out. She looked with wide eyes at the man who dived, like it was perfectly normal, in the white waters, at what she guessed was the approximate area where Ranma had fallen to his doom. 'It's just my memory playing tricks on me. It's just my memory. It can't be real. That girl isn't even bothered. I'm the only one seeing this. I'm delusional.' 

A black spot appeared in the water. She blinked. Where was that coming from? She could hear the girl talk as the sound carried over the water. "You can't scare me by doing that, Ranma. I'm the one who told you about the hole, remember?" 

"Of course. It just was the quickest way to get to you." There was a pause, then a shout of, "Ray Wing!" Akane was beginning to be seriously puzzled. Where was that voice coming from? It sounded like Ranma, so it must be her ears tricking her. It had to be. 

Then she saw the black spot rise from the water. She stared, incredulous, at the strong-looking man in black pants, red shirt with black hair and pigtail as he floated slowly in the air to the woman and took her in his arms, the two of them twirling in the air a few times before unceremoniously falling on the ground. They laughed. "I guess I still need to practice." the man said. 

"Practice? Ranma, you shouldn't even be able to cast that spell! It's only been two weeks since you began studying magic!" Akane was shocked, completely still, as her mind began to draw some unpleasant conclusions. "Well, what can I tell you? I'm the best at whatever I do." The two laughed as they picked themselves up and disappeared in the forest, hand in hand. 

Akane shook herself away as the final conclusion came to her. Ranma was alive, and he was the man she had just seen walk away. Putting aside the other considerations for later, she got up and ran in the direction of the couple, passing the waterfall in no time, going down the small trail rounding the cliff. 

It felt like an eternity, but she eventually cleared the forest, to find herself in front of a large field separating her from a small town. The two couldn't be seen anywhere. She stood there, letting the wind play with her hair. 'Did I imagine the whole thing? Am I worse than I thought?' She calmly walked back to the waterfall and examined the area. 

She didn't know whether to be sad or happy to find the small pools of water there. There had definitively been a jumper. Which meant that she hadn't imagined the whole thing. She took next to no comfort in knowing she was still sane. She looked back down the trail, wondering where the two were. 

Two. Ranma wasn't alone. He had done this to be with another girl, and the whole thing was obviously that girl's idea. And that girl had meant so much to him he had just gotten rid of everyone else, even his family, to be with her. 

Her heart an even bigger mess than before, Akane ran to the train station, needing to talk to someone desperately. She had three news to say. Ranma was alive. Ranma had staged his death one week in advance. Ranma had done it all for a woman. 

******* 

One week earlier... 

"Good bye! I love you all!" Ranma shouted as he began falling backwards. As the rock began hiding him from the group, he turned his back to the waterfall and took a diving position. Ranma aimed at a precise point in the white waters, adjusting his trajectory to hit dead center. He didn't have much room for error here, else this would be a real suicide attempt, not to mention successful. 

Ranma barely registered the change as he entered the waters, concentrated on his swim. The now-girl found herself surrounded by rock needles, in a one meter large opening, which continued into a tunnel under the river floor. The dim light in it reduced to zero as Ranma felt the large rock over her slam over the opening, completely covering the hole. Once she lost her speed she began swimming, the tunnel slowly beginning an ascent. 

Lungs burning for oxygen, Ranma hurried, the tunnel seemingly without end. She finally saw a dim light ahead, and after a few more strokes she broke the water's surface. She took a deep breath and shook her head of water. "Didn't think I'd make it." She whispered to herself. 

"Don't say that." a small voice whispered. Ranma was seriously startled and looked around. "Who's--" She saw the person. "Lina! I thought you'd wait at your home." Ranma dragged herself out of the water and stood to face Lina. The woman was already in her pink and yellow clothes, as was customary of her on the weekends, with a small backpack over one shoulder. 

"That's what I planned, but I couldn't leave you to wait all day in this cold and damp cave alone. You need some company!" she said cheerily, then looked the girl over. "Not to mention dry clothes. You can catch a cold in that, you know." she said matter-of-factly. She perked up from her finger-raised position. "That's why I brought you some fresh clothes! Aren't you lucky to have a girl like me looking out for you?" She threw the backpack at her. "Now go change!" she ordered with a corner of a smile up. 

Still rather confused as to how she should act around that girl, Ranma took the backpack and went to change in the darkness of what could pass for an hallway. Not seeing what the clothes looked like, Ranma put them on, stuffing the bag with her damp clothes and the book she had hidden in her back. Once in the dim light of the larger cavern, Ranma looked down at herself. 

To find she was wearing the same exact thing as the girl currently holding her laughter. "Lina!" she growled of rage. Said girl started laughing, bent in two. "It's the only thing I could lend you!" she shouted between gasps of breath, taking a step forward not to fall down so hard she was laughing. 

Ranma let the girl have her fun, but when it lasted too long she shushed her, getting her attention by dumping the bag at her feet. "Lina, do I have to remind you there are people looking for me?" She pointed down another hallway, where most of the light was coming from, with the sound of water rushing. "If I could hear your fireball, they can hear you laughing. And some of them aren't afraid of water." 

Lina let the rush fade. "Oh, come on. That waterfall is loud enough. You didn't hear the fireball, you only saw the steam coming out. Don't tell me you don't remember how we met? That was only a week ago!" She had a slight trace of indignation in her voice. 

But even that small trace was enough to affect Ranma. She turned away and began rubbing her temples, eyes closed, constantly repeating, "Not her, not her, not her..." Lina saw this and lost her small anger. "I- I'm sorry, Ranma. I forgot. It's my fault." she said softly, approaching the other girl cautiously, hands forward. 

The words worked like magic on Ranma, who regained her cheery attitude almost immediately. "That's okay, Lina." she said with a smile to the girl. "I guess I still have to get used to emotionally normal girls. I'm sorry." 

Lina snorted, putting her hands on her hips. "What did I say? I'm the one at fault--" She stopped as she saw the results of her serious tone on the poor girl. She let out her breath slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You know," she said softly, "I'm beginning to see what the others saw in you. You're very nice and kind, but you can be so dense I could just wring your neck sometimes." She saw the flinch those words brought and resisted the urge to scream. She slowly took a deep breath and let it out. 

"I am sorry for my words. I am in your debt for the pain I have inflicted you." Lina said formally, putting her hands together and bowing deeply. Ranma looked at her incredulously. Then she couldn't take it anymore and burst out in laughter. Seeing the old Ranma was back, Lina redressed herself and cracked a smile. Then just tipped the other girl backwards. 

Flailing arms would have done much better with feathers attached to them, but since Ranma didn't have any she fell back in the water anyway. She surfaced and spit out some water. Dragging herself out once more, she grumbled, "Maybe we should just start over.", wriggling the water out of her pigtail. Lina giggled. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. It was just too tempting." 

Ranma sighed. "Just for fun, eh? You better not have lied to me last week, 'cause I'm really looking forward to doing things just for the fun of it. Martial arts are fun but my father always make everything so serious." 

"Correction. He did." she said, tapping Ranma's nose with a finger. "You'll never see that stupid man ever again. He wasn't even a real father, you know that. He just used you to realize his dreams." Ranma became sad but still nodded slowly. 

"I'm okay. It's hard to let go. It's hard to think of them as people who didn't really care and were just using me." Ranma took a deep breath and sighed. She was nudged by the smaller girl. "Come on. Cheer up. You're putting them behind, and making a new life for yourself. And speaking of new life, I brought a few books to occupy ourselves until dark." 

"More spells?" Ranma said quickly, suddenly happy and hopeful. Lina smirked. "No, Ranma. Not magic. You have to take your time to learn magic. You can't push yourself like in martial arts. I brought school books." The following groan had been anticipated. "You're not the only one who hates school, Ranma, but if you're going to live a more normal life you'll have to bear the work like everybody else." Ranma nodded resignedly. "There's also the fact that final exams are three weeks away." Lina added as a side note. Ranma slumped her shoulders. 

Lina saw this, smiled ever-so-slightly but was still disappointed. She wasn't about to challenge Ranma to get the motivation, as that would be endorsing his old lifestyle, something she was entirely against. But when it concerned school, she could see Ranma still needed an incentive. "Tell you what, Ranma. For each subject you study, I'll tell you the basis of one kind of magic. As an actual magician, I can tell you more than that book Father gave you. What do you say?" 

"Deal!" Ranma replied enthusiastically. "But we'd need a little more light than in here. You wouldn't happen to have a lamp?" she queried. Lina shook her head. "We'll have plenty of light at the entrance behind the waterfall, and the two rocks there were put for a reason." She took the other redhead's hand and led. "Let's get started. My school bag is already there." Her enthusiasm brought on another groan, but Ranma otherwise kept silent. 

They walked down the cave and turned to see the waterfall at the end, the sound of rushing water filling their ears. Ranma blinked. How could Lina expect him to study with that noise? "Lina, I--" She stopped as she realized she could barely hear herself. 

There were two large rocks, with a flat surface on top, on each side of the cave, far enough from the entrance to be dry. Lina took a bag from the floor and opened it, getting out one book and a writing pad. Ranma sat on the left, confused, while Lina wrote a note. She then showed it to her. 'If you're really focused on studying, you won't even hear the waterfall.' Ranma frowned. 

Another message came quickly. 'Shut up and take it like a man.' "Hey!" Ranma shouted, then quickly slammed a hand over her mouth, looking outside. From this side of the waterfall, one could see the other side in a fuzzy, shimmering sort of way, far from a clear picture, but Ranma still spotted a figure next to the waterfall, at the forest's edge. She flattened herself against the right wall, taking Lina with her. 

The questioning look was answered by nervous pointing in the figure's direction. Lina looked quickly and understood. She took her notepad and wrote, 'Anybody you know?' Ranma shrugged but didn't make a move to check. 'You can't be seen from this side, you know.' Ranma shot a glare at the smiling face and observed the figure. 

From what she could see, it was a woman in a yellow sundress, on her knees, head lowered in her hands. A quick mental recall told Ranma only Akane had that in her wardrobe. But the reaction was far from anything she would have expected from the girl. She motioned for Lina's pad. 'I think it's Akane. Didn't think she'd be crying for me, though.' 

Lina saw this and frowned. Ranma could really be a dense idiot sometimes. Of course Akane cared about her fiancee, even if she didn't show it most of the time. And Ranma seemed unaffected by the girl's emotional state. Lina forcefully took the notepad from Ranma and hastily wrote a reply, adding it with an angry face. 'You're not bothered by this?!?' 

Ranma raised an eyebrow and calmly wrote back. 'She is- was the main source of my suffering. Whatever feeling I had for her I lost awhile ago. Frankly, a little part of me is happy that I'm finally hurting her back.' Lina was surprised at this. While it was true that girl had brought it upon herself by having the temper tantrums of a three-year-old, she hadn't expected this from Ranma. Even if she only had known him for a very short time, Lina felt really close to Ranma. After all, it was a crying boy who had poured his heart out to her a week ago. It may have been only a resume of his life, but it still had been six hours long. 

She was shaken out of her wondering by a tug on her sleeve. She read the message that was inches from her face. 'Could you make a small gust of wind to drench the two of them? I don't care about Akane but I really want the guy splashed.' Lina looked to see a second figure, black pants and yellow shirt, kneeling next to Akane, a hand on her shoulder. She raised a questioning eyebrow and Ranma added an underlined 'Please!' on the notepad. 

Lina shrugged and gathered her mana energy, raising a hand to face the boy. "Diem Wind!" Her words were lost in the waterfall as the weakened spell sent a gust of wind towards the two victims, splashing them with about a bucket's worth of water. She smiled as she saw the boy disappear, leaving a puddle of clothes. Akane seemed utterly shocked to find a small black pig in them. 

The following yell of "Pervert!!!" was perfectly heard. Lina took the notepad from Ranma. 'That was Ryoga?' Ranma nodded rapidly with a large smile. 'You just broke your promise not to tell, you know.' The other girl shook her head and wrote, 'Ranma Saotome is officially dead. The dead can't break promises.' Lina took the pad from the smiling redhead and handed her a math book. The smile changed faces. 

******* 

Monday after Ranma's death, Nerima... 

Akane and Nabiki slowly walked to school, both looking at the ground right in front of them, the former sometimes glancing over her shoulder. Nabiki noticed this and smirked. "Miss having the idiot on the fence?" 

"Of course not!" Akane snapped back. "How... could... I..." Her voice had trailed off and was now barely more than a whisper. "I miss him..." she admitted, having stopped walking. "I just can't believe he-- he--..." She couldn't say it. 

"I know." Nabiki said softly, patting her sister's back. "You're not the only one, you know. Cologne, Kasumi and Auntie Saotome all agree something was off about Ranma's death, but unless you can find a way to survive that fall, we don't have much choice in saying he's dead. It's like the police said. With all those rock needles at the bottom of the fall and the large stone right over him, there's no chance of survival." 

Akane sniffed. "I know." She stayed there for awhile, slowly getting ahold of herself. Finally, she took a deep breath and let it out. "Let's go." she said with the beginning of a smile. 

"Now that's more like it." Nabiki replied, falling in step with her sister. "You need to be yourself if you're going to pound Kuno into the ground." She paused for a second. "Come to think of it, without Ranma I'm giving three to one odds the mob of boys will be back too. I hope you stayed in shape." she said, smiling, to an angering Akane. 

"Calm yourself, Akane." Nabiki added quickly. "You have to watch your words if you want to get rid of Kuno. Just beating him up won't do anything." 

Akane took in a relaxing breath. "You're right. Ranma always said I had to watch my temper." Nabiki tripped on her feet but managed to stay up. "S-say what?!?" She stared incredulously at her sister. "You're actually listening to what Ranma said?" 

She shrugged with a smile. "I'm not stupid, Nabiki. I know my problems. And I'll be damned if I let Ranma's death be in vain on me. He couldn't face his problems, but now I'm willing to face mine once and for all." 

That caught the older girl off guard. "I'm impressed." Nabiki said honestly. "You're finally growing up." She received a glare and tried to look innocent. 

"Say," Akane began after a minute of silent walking, "you still haven't told me why you're going with me, especially in a school uniform." 

Nabiki smiled mysteriously. "I don't have to tell you everything, sis. I'm just tagging along to see how the day turns out. The uniform is just to blend in." 

"You're not planning to sell information about Ranma's death, are you?" Akane said darkly, glaring at her sister. Nabiki shook her head. "No. I may like money but I'm not completely heartless. I'll answer the questions so you don't have to." 

Akane smiled softly. "Thanks, sis. I don't know how I could face them without you." She received a shrug. "What are sisters for? I hate to say this, but my four-day weekend came just at the right time." 

"I know. But it also gave Kuno more time to annoy me. It's bad enough he visited every weekend, now he gets to boast that his purity and superiority finally drove Ranma to admit his wrongdoings and end his life like an honorless coward, without the proper rituals. And it doesn't even get him off my back." 

"Aah, don't sulk." Nabiki said teasingly. She stopped walking just before Akane shot her another glare. "There's Kuno. Good luck. Try not to send him in the hospital." She caught the flying schoolbag and watched her sister stomp over to the kendoist. "Here's to hoping." she said to herself with a smile, before following. 

******* 

Same day, Nekohanten... 

"But, Shampoo! Now that Ranma's gone, we can finally be together!" The blind boy attempted to hug the object of his affection but was knocked away. 

"Shampoo no care! Ranma not reason Shampoo no go after Mousse. Shampoo not interested!" A backhand sent the annoyance back once more. 

"But Shampoo, I love you!" Mousse got near but didn't try to hug her, this time. It still infuriated the Amazon, who grabbed a nearby chair and slammed it on his head. _ she yelled back in Chinese. Most of the chair broke, but she continued to hit him with it. _

When there wasn't enough chair left, she began to kick the unconscious boy. After the fifth strike, she felt a poke at the back of her neck, and fell over Mousse, paralyzed.  Cologne rolled Shampoo off Mousse and examined him.  she commented. 

One more touch of her cane and Shampoo was back up.  Shampoo grabbed a leg and began pulling. 

The boy's head was making a satisfying bump against each step.  The speech was old, the speech was known by heart, and Shampoo was used to mutter it to herself while dragging the blind boy to his room. 

******* 

Same day, Niigi... 

"Ranma, stop that!" Lina immediately bit her lip as she heard the angry tone of her voice. Luckily, Ranma apparently wasn't affected, or hadn't heard, as he continued to do flips and cartwheels, from the sidewalk to the fence, a large smile plastered on his face. 'I can't blame him for being happy, I guess.' she thought, his smile slowly rubbing off on her. 

She let him waste his energy, continuing at her leisurely pace. At least, Ranma had been too happy to complain about school or uniforms this morning. Though she had to agree with him. The dark blue and square forms didn't fit well with him, and he looked very different with them. Well, the pigtail was unmistakable. 

Lina finally spotted the school. Time to put an end to Ranma's antics. "If you don't stop right now, Ranma Inverse," she said sternly, though not too much, "you won't get to know what being normal is all about." He finally stopped jumping and looked at her, curious and surprised. "All of those acrobatics aren't *normally* possible. Unless you stop showing off, you'll attract attention, and that's precisely what Father warned you against." 

Ranma slumped his shoulders. "You're right. I'm sorry." He then just burst of joy. "I'm just so happy to never turn into a girl again!" he practically shouted, extending his arms and pivoting on himself. 

"I know, but keep it to yourself, okay? There are things better left untold in life, like magic." They shared a look and smirked. Ranma let Lina walk past him and fell in step, putting an arm around her. "Come on, let's go to school." He laughed at her raised eyebrow. 

******* 

Same day, somewhere... 

Ryoga was lost, and he didn't care. Well, he did care. He could always find his way to the Unryu farm, if Akari still wanted him after all that time. Still, he didn't know exactly where it was. The only times he had found it was by getting lost. Which meant he didn't care that he was lost. No. That meant he *did* care. He shrugged, not caring for a philosophical debate with himself. 

Without realizing it, Ryoga turned left around a tree. One of the reasons he couldn't go in a straight line was that he tended to look at the ground right in front of his feet. Since that reduced his field of vision, he never noticed his sudden changes of direction. He did notice, however, the grass below him turn into pavement suddenly. He blinked and looked up at his surroundings. 

It was just another typical town. One he didn't recognize, but that was normal. He never knew where he was, just like he never knew where he was going. On the other side of the street, a girl in uniform was walking with a boy doing acrobatics around her, seemingly very happy. Ryoga observed the boy, not caring for the conversation. The ease with which the moves were made spoke of a very good martial artist, and the movements seemed familiar. 

Before Ryoga could analyze the boy's moves any further, he stopped, talking for a small time with the girl before putting an arm around the girl and walking away, disappearing behind a corner. Ryoga shrugged and continued on his way. 

He had taken one step forward when he realized why he had felt this familiarity. A vision of the two students right before they turned the corner flashed in his mind. The boy's hair. The pigtail. Added with the acrobatics, it could only match one person. Ranma. Ryoga turned around and ran for the corner where the two had turned. The street came up empty, but he could see a large building at the end, probably the school, so he ran some more. 

Ryoga turned another corner to find himself on a small hill overlooking a forest. He blinked, confused, and looked around. There was no trace of civilisation anywhere, only forest and mountains as far as the eye could see. Ryoga raised his arms and looked at the heavens, taking a deep breath. "WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I NOW?!?!?" 

******* 

Following Saturday, slightly before noon, Nerima... 

Akane had managed to get ahold of herself in the train ride, and was now running back to her home. She was no longer sad, but she wanted answers. And she'd be damned if she didn't get them. She could count a few people who'd work with her to find Ranma, and she'd go enlist their help. 

She practically stormed into the house. Kasumi had been calmly dusting the living room when she saw the girl enter, looking more determined then ever before. "Oh my! Akane, you're back early. Did something happen?" 

"Damn right something happened. I want you to call Nabiki and Auntie Saotome. Tell them to come here as fast as possible." Akane continued straight to the stairs. 

"Is- is it an emergency?" Kasumi queried, still in her soft voice. "Yes. Ranma's alive." "Oh my!" she couldn't help but interject. She thought for a moment. Suddenly, it all made sense. She rushed to the phone. 

Kasumi did the calls, then hung up the phone, sighing. Why would Ranma have done this? Well, maybe Akane had an answer. She had surely seen him for more than a moment to be so convinced of the fact. She decided against asking Akane right away, as it was probably something she wanted to say only once in front of the others. 

'Father would be so happy.' she thought. 'It is too bad he is with Grandfather Happosai and Uncle Saotome training on the road. Oh, well.' With her ever-present smile, she returned to her cleaning. 

In the dojo, Akane was letting go of some frustration about Ranma leaving like that. And for a girl. The cinder block practically turned to dust under her hand. A girl he probably hadn't even met before his first 'training trip' to those falls. The damn womanizer. Why was she going after him again? 

She took a deep breath and sighed. Because she had feelings for him. What those were at this moment, she wasn't sure, but that part of her still demanded answers, and she would go get them. At least, the other fiancees didn't know. It hurt to have been rejected, but at least the three others had also been spurned. 

Akane's thoughts stayed on Ukyo for a moment. She was the only other who had close ties to Ranma, and she was his best friend. She was also a friend of sorts to her. A small feeling of guilt started gnawing at her conscience. Perhaps Ukyo deserved to know. The okonomiyaki chef had been utterly devastated by the incident. The only thing that kept her going was the restaurant. Finally, there was enough guilt in her for Akane to leave the dojo and call Ukyo. 

******* 

Nekohanten... 

_ Shampoo shouted at the top of her lungs as she whacked Mousse in the distance.  The blind boy did a graceful arc in the sky, reminiscent of another boy who had frequent flyer miles. At the moment he was cursing the total absence of cloud in the skies. All he needed was one small splash of water and he could fly away instead of having a very hard landing in some back alley. _

But luck was not with him, and he unceremoniously embeded himself in a full garbage can, which slowly but surely tipped forward. Mousse found himself stuck, staring at the ground a few inches in front of his face, where his glasses currently lay, something rather unpleasant beginning to seep through his robes on his back. He tried shaking himself out, with barely perceptible progress. He stopped when he heard a familiar voice shout from inside the open door next to him. 

"WHAT?!? Ranma's alive?!?" Mousse would have leaped of joy if he could when he recognized the voice as Ukyo's, somebody who could help him, and became utterly furious when her words repeated themselves to him in his head. 'No. No. It can't be. Ranma died when he jumped down the waterfall. There was no way to survive that.' A small voice piped up in his head, the one which always played devil's advocate, and tended to be right. 'But she said he was alive, didn't she? And she's not alone. Whoever she's talking with says he's alive too. It must be true.' 

Mousse grinded his teeth. True or not, he had to verify it. He'd be damned before he let that womanizer steal Shampoo from him. The only way to do that was to go and make Ranma stay dead before the news got to Cologne and Shampoo. In his anger, he forced his arms wide, deforming the garbage can enough for him to slip out. He picked up his glasses, got on his feet and returned to the Nekohanten. 

He entered his room by the window, always left open in case he was coming back as a duck, and gathered his things. Weapons, mostly, which he hid on his person at the usual places. After shouldering his pre-made traveling backpack, he went downstairs to the kitchen, to get some supplies before leaving. He was halfway through stuffing his face when Cologne hoped in. 

"What are you doing?" The look of shock in his eyes didn't help him. "Where are you going, Mousse? I need you to do a few chores. The lunch hour is beginning. What would Shampoo think if you left her to do your part of the chores?" A look of guilt crossed his features, but he quickly lost it. For the moment, preventing Shampoo from returning to Ranma's clutches was more important than helping her out. 

"I have other things to do." he said dismissively as he began walking out. "No you don't." Cologne replied quickly, paralysing him with a quick poke on the back of the neck. He fell forward, hitting the floor hard, and she turned him around. "What is it that you have to do so urgently?" He refused to speak. 

"You defy me? That is not very wise. The penalties for defying a matriarch are very severe." He still kept silent, though was beginning to sweat slightly. "Listen to me, Mousse. Unless I receive complete loyalty from you, I shall never let you marry Shampoo under any condition. Now speak." 

Mousse was sweating profusely, caught between a rock and a hard place. If he spoke, Cologne would go after Ranma and he'd lose his chance. If he didn't, Cologne would never let him marry Shampoo, and he permanently lost his chance. Unwillingly, he resigned himself. Even if they went after Ranma, there was still the possibility Ranma was no longer interested in Shampoo, though Mousse found that idea ridiculous. With a sigh, he told her. 

"I overheard Ukyo talking to someone, and she said Ranma was alive." For the first time in his life, Mousse saw Cologne completely surprised. She recuperated quickly, however. "Really? And you intended to go and try to kill Ranma? And keep it a secret from me? I'm usually disappointed in you, Mousse, but this his a new low." She splashed him with some cold water and threw the duck in a cage. 

'So Ranma is alive...' she mused. 'Who could have told Ukyo? Hmm... I've heard the Tendo girl went back a few times to those falls. If anyone, it's her.' Cologne hopped to the dining room, where Shampoo was quietly wiping tables. 

"Shampoo, close the restaurant. We have to go." She received a very confused look. "But, Great-grandmother, lunch hour about to start. Where is place we must go so urgent?" 

"We are going to investigate a rumor. Ranma may be alive." The table under Shampoo's hands turned into a pile of wood. "What?!?" "Close the restaurant and prepare your things, Shampoo. We are not the only ones after Ranma." The girl was a blur as she closed the main doors and ran upstairs. 

Cologne shook her head and followed her. "Ah, to be young and in love..." she sighed. She could only wish Shampoo was prepared to be hurt again. If Ranma had been so ready to fake his death and leave his own family behind, he probably hadn't even given a second thought about Shampoo. At least, it would be a life lesson for the girl. 

After getting a few things and adding them to Shampoo's backpack, Cologne led the way to the Tendo residence. They arrived just as the Tendo girls, Ukyo and Nodoka were leaving. Nodoka took a step forward. "Can we help you, Cologne?" 

"I assume you are going to Niigi to search for Ranma." Akane and Ukyo shot an angry glare at Nabiki, who raised her hands and shook her head. "Shampoo and I wish to help in the search." 

"Very well, Cologne." Nodoka said before any of the girls started objecting. "But there will be no fighting, no provocation and no potions, magical or otherwise, from your part. Is that acceptable?" 

"Of course. My priority is the same as yours. The search for Ranma will be in complete cooperation." Cologne said smoothly. Nodoka nodded and motioned to the four girls. "Let's go, then. I have a wayward son to find." They all nodded and the group headed for the train station. 

******* 

Kuno Mansion... 

Sasuke wasn't sure if he should give that information to his master or not. Of all the bad news he had had to deliver, this was the worst. He cursed himself once more for suggesting to spy on the Tendo home, in case the object of Kuno's affection ever needed something. 

Of course, Sasuke knew any such action on Kuno's part would be met by failure. It didn't take a dimwitted flea to understand Akane wasn't interested in Kuno. He had only suggested it so he could spend more time away from the Kuno household, which from 'bad' had gotten to 'hell is better' since Ranma's death. Especially when Kuno had discovered that even without the 'evil magician' around, Akane was still 'ensorcelled'. Added with the 'denied of my vengeance' speech, the kendoist was not pleasant to be around. There was only so much ringing in the ears someone could take. 

Letting go of a resigned sigh, Sasuke checked everything once more before entering his master's chambers. 'Carriage ready outside, check. Bag of spare bokkens, check. Clothes, check. Reserved rooms at the most distinguished hotel in Niigi, check. Hotel people warned in advance, check. Did I forget anything?' 

From somewhere away in the mansion, Kodachi's laughter echoed in the large hallways, sending a shiver down Sasuke's spine. 'Oh. Right. *Her*.' Sasuke looked longingly down the hallway for a second, then back at the large doors in front of him. 'Should I prepare her things as well?' He slumped his shoulders. 'Of course I should.' 

Silently cursing the fates for putting him in the clutches of the Kuno family, Sasuke set to his task. 'There are worse things, I suppose.' he repeated the saying, for the nth time. Now all he had to do, like countless times before, was to find those worse fates, so he could look unto his life with a little happiness. 

******* 

End Chapter 1 

******* 


End file.
